CpG Motif as an Adjuvant in Immunization of a Recombinant Plasmid Encoding Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein

Document Type : Brief Report

Authors

1 Department of Molecular Medicine, Research Center of Molecular Biology, Institute of Military Medicine, Bagyatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, I.R. Iran.

2 Department of Immunology, National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran.

3 Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of Tehran, P.O.Box: 13145-1384 Tehran, I.R. Iran.

4 Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Science, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, I.R. Iran.

5 Department of Immunology, National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, I.R. Iran.

Abstract

The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of DNA vaccines have been demonstrated in numerous animal
models of infectious diseases. In order to increase the potency of DNA vaccines, in this study, conventional
adjuvants such as aluminium phosphates, dendrosome, CpG motif and mixture of aluminium phosphate
and CpG motif have been tested. Female BALB/c mice were immunized with mixture of 10, 25 and 50 μg HCV
core pcDNA3. Each dose of recombinant pcDNA3 together with different adjuvants used as an immunogen
were injected three times on day; 0, 30 and 50 days. Blood samples were collected at four different times intervals and antibody response against HCV core antigen was determined by HCV core ELISA kit. The results indicate that the best antibody response was with mixture of aluminium phosphate and CpG motif as an adjuvant. This data suggest that the antibody response induced following DNA immunization can be modified by formulation strategies.

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